Coop plan advice

[EvansMeXo]

If your birds will have to spend time inside the coop due to deep snow I would go bigger. Much bigger.
Humidity is a problem when combined with cold. Frostbite on combs is horrid and painful. Winter combined with a small space means high humidity.

Do you plan on having a way for them to have a snow free area in winter?

We get bitter cold here in winter but not much snow. I keep about 20 hens in an 8x14 coop and the poo adds up fast. Poo and chicken breath both add to humidity.
Ventilation will be even more critical for you being in a much wetter climate then us.

This is a worry of mine, but most of my neighbours have chickens so I know it can be done.. were going to have to shovel out their run so they can come out.. I do want to have it bigger than needed so I can add future chickens and during blizzards keep them locked up safe in the coop and not worry about them being cramped.. how do you keep their water from freezing? And keep frost bite away?? I've been told that as long as they have fresh water and good shelter they don't need a heat source?

 

[21hens-incharge]

DE is hard on chicken lungs since it is such a fine powder. Plus it gets airborne and nails good critters like bees.

I shovel my run in winter too.

If I were in Nova Scotia I would give them 10 square foot in the coop per bird. That would mean an 80 square foot coop for 8 birds or an 8x10.

It won't be inexpensive.

To keep thawed water I have two methods. For the coop with electric I have a bucket heater. For the coop without electric I keep 2 water dishes. One in the coop one empty and ready. I haul water out twice a day to that coop. I bring in the frozen and fill the empty. It is a pain in the bottom really.

Ask your neighbors what works for them. I bet that can give you a lot of what does and does not work in your area. Most people are happy to share info.

 

[Mace Gill]

DE is hard on chicken lungs since it is such a fine powder. Plus it gets airborne and nails good critters like bees.

I shovel my run in winter too.

If I were in Nova Scotia I would give them 10 square foot in the coop per bird. That would mean an 80 square foot coop for 8 birds or an 8x10.

It won't be inexpensive.

Yeah, I use it a little in the feed or if I am having some sort of parasite issue. And very sparingly. I don't use it outside at all because of bees (and other beneficial bugs).

 

[Molpet]

I build cattle panel coops, in a fenced poultry yard, and put the cheap coops inside.. cattle panel covered in 1/2 hardware cloth covered by 2x4" welded wire then cover w/clearish tarps in the winter. North end is covered in 6 mil plastic and south end of the 8x24' one is uncovered in winter, for ventilation. They only go in the little inside coops when below -15f .. I have an apron of hardware cloth instead of digging it down. you can see the apron in the first pic





8x8 coop in winter

 

[Mace Gill]

This is a worry of mine, but most of my neighbours have chickens so I know it can be done.. were going to have to shovel out their run so they can come out.. I do want to have it bigger than needed so I can add future chickens and during blizzards keep them locked up safe in the coop and not worry about them being cramped.. how do you keep their water from freezing? And keep frost bite away?? I've been told that as long as they have fresh water and good shelter they don't need a heat source?

Some of this depends on the breed ... some breed do confinement better than others. If the snow is cleared out, most birds will want to go out anyway during the day. During a blizzard, two days I the coop wouldn't kill them. As for water ... well, you gotta check it. Or use a heated font. If you're using a heated font, you can hook it up to a 'thermocube'. This is a little device that turns the power on a under 35 degrees and turns it off again at 45 degrees, but in the worst of the cold it would run nearly constant. Costs about $15